recreational marijuana

Will Texas be the next state to decriminalize marijuana? During the elections this November, voters in eight states passed legalization laws.

As The International Business Times reports, this has opened the door for cannabis advocates to push for similar laws in other states. On Nov. 5, the first day of bill filling for the 2017 legislative season, Texas lawmakers filed several requests to decriminalize pot.

Pot opponents in Colorado had been gearing up to for a battle to try to force a vote on whether marijuana dealers in the state should require less-potent pot. Their proposed initiative would have also warned pot shoppers that the drug could cause brain damage and paranoia. But now these opponents have decided to give up the fight, reports Colorado Public Radio.

Backers of the measure announced Friday that they have been unable to raise enough money to advertise their plan.

The most organized and widespread effort yet to battle marijuana in Colorado is underway, reports The Denver Post. The state Supreme Court last week cleared the way for a ballot measure that would set new potency and packaging limits on recreational marijuana. If passed, pot packaging would have to include warnings that the product carries a risk of “permanent loss of brain abilities.” Under the measure, pot potency would also be tightly controlled.

HPPR listeners in eastern Colorado have probably noticed the explosion in popularity of pot-infused edibles. Marijuana-laced gummy bears, brownies, lollipops and pastries are all the rage in the Centennial State. But npr.org recently asked a burning question: Just how potent are these ganja-laced goodies? The answer? No one really knows.

The US Supreme Court has declined to hear a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s marijuana legalization law, reports The New York Times. Two other High Plains states, Nebraska and Oklahoma, had sought to use a rare procedure to attack the Colorado law by going directly to the high court.

Of regional interest, in a world where marijuana is legal in many places, the way the drug is viewed by the public is changing. And along with these perceptions, the ways in which marijuana is sold, delivered and consumed are also changing.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to legalize marijuana for recreational use, reports globalpost.com. The plan could generate up to 5 billion dollars’ worth of Canadian tax revenue, a study says. Canada’s capital of Ottawa and its provincial governments have been facing revenue crunches in the wake of falling commodity prices. So Trudeau decided to explore how much revenue could be generated from legalizing pot.

Pot smokers may soon encounter new warning labels, reports the AP’s Business Insider. That is, if the nation's most influential doctors’ group has its way. The cautionary label will read: “Warning: Marijuana use during pregnancy and breast-feeding poses potential harms.” The American Medical Association agreed Monday to push for regulations requiring such warnings.

The southern Colorado town of Pueblo was once an industrial town, a steelworker’s stronghold. But after the steel market crashed in 1982, the town had trouble recovering. Until now. The legalization of marijuana has led to a massive influx of new visitors, and many of them are coming to stay, reports The Guardian.

The Santee Sioux tribe of South Dakota may have discovered a new money-making model for native tribes across the US, according to The Guardian. The tribe will open the nation’s first marijuana resort on its reservation, hoping to sell its first marijuana cigarette on New Year’s Eve. Marijuana was legalized on the reservation in June.

Pot smokers in Colorado and Washington may soon see a familiar face on the dispensary shelves. A New York-based equity firm is backing singer Willie Nelson’s plan to market his own plan of marijuana, reports The Wall Street Journal blog. The Redheaded Stranger hopes to make his cannabis brand, Willie’s Reserve, available in both states’ recreational markets, and anywhere else sales are legal.

Colorado tourists who want to smoke the pot they’ve legally purchased are running into a problem: where to light up. There’s no smoking in the stores—or on the street, or in parks, or in most hotels, reports Colorado Public Radio. Many tourists have turned to eating their marijuana; five million pot edibles were consumed in Colorado last year.

NPR member station KRCC reports that a new study has found that 14% of Coloradoans use marijuana. The Colorado state Health Department reports that of those 14%, one third use pot every day. Almost one if five of state marijuana users drive after using the substance. A little over half of Colorado residents have never tried pot.

While marijuana is now legal in Colorado, you can still be fired for testing positive for the substance. The Washington Post reports that the state supreme court ruled 6 to nothing this week against a man who was trying to get his job back after failing a drug test. Colorado now becomes the fourth state to rule against an employee in such a case.

For years Garden City resident Shona Banda has been self-medicating her Crohn’s disease with cannabis oil and making no secret of it, touting her homemade vaporizer on YouTube and in a self-published book.

Now Banda could face up to 17 years in prison for doing so, in a case that has medical marijuana advocates enraged and legislators from both parties saying it is past time to re-examine the state’s drug laws.

Officials and researchers from states that have legalized marijuana or are considering making the substance lawful met in Washington State this week to evaluate the impact of the legislation, reports the Washington Post. The conference drew lawmakers from the legal pot states of Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska, as well as Vermont and California—states that may legalize the substance in the future.

Colorado made history when it opened up licensed marijuana retail shops this year. Aside from just legalizing the purchase of smoke-able marijuana, it also means pot brownies have the potential to be big business. Food products infused with marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient, THC, are available in stores across the state.

Colorado is the first jurisdiction anywhere in the world to have a legal, regulated marked for recreational marijuana. 20 other states, and Washington, DC, allow the use of medical marijuana, but how does Colorado’s marijuana market function? The Economist explains:

Kinky Friedman, singer, humorist, novelist, and hawker of tequila, is trying to the third time to add “elected official” to the list. The 69 year old has tossed his black cowboy hat into the ring to become agriculture commissioner according to an article in the Texas Tribune.

Colorado voters said no to a tax increase that promised smaller class sizes, all-day kindergarten, and smarter education spending. It was one of the most sweeping school-financing measures in the nation this year, according to The New York Times.